Executive stresses importance of social media

WINCHESTER – Mary McDuffie, executive vice president of delivery channels and communications for Navy Federal Credit Union, discussed the importance of social media, personnel and customer involvement during the Apple Blossom Festival’s Business at the Bloom luncheon Wednesday.

A large crowd was there to hear about her work with Navy Federal, which employs 1,500 in Winchester.

McDuffie explained how beneficial social media can be to small businesses, and noted that the credit union has several small business clients that use social media to their advantage.

“I think that social media is a way to help small business become big businesses … it is a way that they can keep in touch with the customers they have today and build (on) that,” she said. “That word-of-mouth marketing is so important, and arguably the best and cheapest form of marketing is somebody saying something good about you out there on social media.”

She noted that more than half of the credit union’s members are under 35.

“You won’t be surprised that 90 percent of young adults age 18 to 29 are involved in social media, and I really don’t know what the other 10 percent are doing.”

She said young people aren’t the only ones using social media.

“Remember too that social media is not just for the young. In fact, social media engagement extends across all demographic segments,” she said. “Even those folks 65 and older, 35 percent of them are active social media participants. So, as bewildering as the sea of social media may seem sometimes, it is an incredible opportunity for us in business and marketing.”